Honours were even on the first day of the first round match between defending champions Guyana and Jamaica at Providence yesterday. Wicketkeeper Anthony Bramble hit 62 and Chandrapaul Hemraj 60, to guide Guyana to 258-8, while offspinner Damani Sewell has taken three wickets to date.

At St George's, Roland Cato struck 90 in the Windwards total of 220-7, while pacer Mervin Mathew has taken three wickets so far for the Leewards.

It seems that rain ruined the first day's play at Kensington Oval between Trinidad and Barbados, because only one over was bowled.

At Providence, defending champions Guyana took a stranglehold at the halfway stage of their four-day match against Jamaica. Pacer Derval Green took 4-63 and offspinner Damani Sewell 3-69 to dismiss Guyana for 266, but that's a mammoth score in the PCL. Left-arm spinner then captured 6-29 to bowl Jamaica out for an embarrassing 99 all out, Asad Fudadin topscoring with 39. Choosing not to enforce the follow-on, Guyana were 106-4 at stumps.

In Grenada, the Leewards were in a strong position to take the lead against the Windwards at the end of Day Two. Pacers Jeremiah Louis (4-35) and Mervin Matthew (3-20) dismissed the Windwards for a paltry 232 all out. Openers Chesney Hughes (89) and Kasey Carty (72) then propelled the visitors to 227-4.

Rejected Test wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin played a captain's innings in the rain-affected match in Bridgetown, notching up 101, the first century of the tournament, in Trinidad's 300 all out. He received support from Ewart Nicholson (74) and Jeremy Solozano (54), while medium pacer Justin Greaves and left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican each took 4-67. At the close of play, Barbados were 42-1.

At Providence, captain Leon Johnson inexplicably decided to bat on until defending champions Guyana made 315-8 declared on Day Three. Keemo Paul hit a quickfire 107 and Johnson 50, while spinner Dennis Bulli took 5-104. Set an improbable 483 to win, Jamaica were 61-2 at stumps.

In St George's, Nkrumah Bonner chipped in with 69 as the Leewards piled up 343 all out on the penultimate day, pacer Sherman Lewis taking 3-51 and left-arm spinner Audley Alexander 3-63. Trailing by 111, the Windwards were 93-1 at stumps, once again led by veteran opener Devon Smith with an unbeaten half-century.

On the third day of their rain-ruined day-night match at Kensington Oval, Anthony Alleyne and Jonathan Carter hit 84s to lead Barbados to 310-9 declared, legspinner Imran Khan taking 3-68. Trailing by 10 runs, Trinidad were 31 without loss going into today's final day.

Poor batting continues to plague the PCL yesterday, when the second round got under way in Bridgetown yesterday. Pacers jeremiah louis (6-69) and gavin Tonge (three wickets for five runs ) dismissed Barbados for a paltry 113 all out. Ashley nurse top scored with 45. Leewards were 114-4 at stumps.

Embarrassingly poor batting continued to be a feature of the PCL, as the Leewards crushed Barbados by an innings and four runs in just two days of their-four day match at Kensington Oval. Tailender Jeremiah Louis topscored with 62 not out as the Leewards made 233 all out, which was a large score by the poor standards of the PCL. Offspinner Kenroy Williams took 5-50. Trailing by 120 runs, Barbados could only manage a paltry 116 all out in the second innings, tailender Ashley Nurse again topscoring with 67. Pacers Gavin Tonge (6-21) and Jeremiah Louis (3-43) again did the damage.

Fourteen wickets tumbled on the opening day of the match at Gros Islet. Pacer Shefane Rutherford took 6-32 to dismiss the Windwards for 151 all out, Kavem Hodge topscoring with 48. Chandrapaul Hemraj hit a round 50 as Guyana reached stumps on 117-4.

At the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, unbeaten knocks from Brandon King (91) and Fabian Allen (80) enabled Jamaica to recover from 85-4 to reach 246-4. Medium pacer Roshan Primus has taken two wickets to date.

Even this early in the season, it's clear that defending champions Guyana are head and shoulders above the opposition. The visitors took control on the second day of their match at Beausejour, as Vishal Singh hit 119 to lead Guyana to 357 all out. He was supported by wicketkeeper Anthony Bramble (90) and tailender Shefane Rutherford (50), while pacer Obed McCoy took 3-56. Trailing by 206 runs, the Windwards were 54-1 at stumps.

After Day Two of their match at Tarouba, allrounder Fabian Allen hit 165 not out and he was supported by Brandon King with 98, as Jamaica piled up 431 all out, the first 400+ score of the season, offspinner Bryan Charles taking 3-64. Pacer Derval Green took three wickets to reduce Trinidad to 38-4, but unbeaten half-centuries from Yannick Cariah and Tion Webster carried the hosts to 133-4 at the close.

There was more poor batting in St Lucia yesterday, as Guyana beat the Windwards by seven wickets with a day to spare. On the third day of their four-day game, a total of 12 wickets fell. Left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul took 4-53 and pacer Keon Joseph 3-53 to dismiss the Windwards for a lowly 244 in their second innings, veteran Kirk Edwards topscoring with 54. Set a mere 38 for victory, the defending champions lost three wickets in knocking off the target.

In a match that stands in stark contrast to the rest of the games in the PCL, there were runs galore on the penultimate day in South Trinidad. Yannick Cariah hit 127 and Tion Webster 178, in Trinidad's first innings score of 380-7 declared, pacer Derval Green taking 3-77. Leading by 51 runs, Jamaica were 29-1 going into today's final day.

After three days of bat dominating the bat in South Trinidad, it was back to batting collapses, as 2 wickets fell on the final day of the drawn match between Trinidad and Jamaica. Legspinner Imran Khan took 6-59 to dismiss Jamaica for a paltry 141 in the second innings, Paul Palmer topscoring with 52. Set an unlikely 193 to win, Trinidad were 84-3 at the close of play.

It was slow-going in the top of the table clash between the Leewards and Guyana on the first day of the third round of their match at North Sound. Montcin Hodge hit 72 not out from 274 balls, and Kasey Carty 61 not out from 185 balls, as the Leewards crawled to 181-1 at stumps.

Runs flowed much more freely at Queens Park Oval, where Trinidad rattled up 334-3 against the Windwards. Kyle Hope was out for 69, while there were unbeaten centuries for Jason Mohammed and Denesh Ramdin.

Rain continued to affect the first half of the PCL, which is maddeningly being played during the Caribbean rainy season. At the close of the first day's play at Sabina Park, Jamaica were 77 without loss against Barbados.

My pleasure....In antigua, 14 wickets fell on the second day, as the Leewards took command of their top of the table clash with Guyana. The Leewards made 412-9 declared, thanks to half-centuries from Montcin Hodge (91), Kasey Carty (82), Jahmar Hamilton (56), and Terrence Warde (52). Pacer Shefane Rutherford took 3-92. Guyana were reeling at 53-6 at stumps at the halfway stage of the match.

In Port-of-Spain, 17 wickets fell on Day Two as Trinidad strengthened their grip on the match. Veterans Jason Mohammed (113) and Denesh Ramdin (116) propelled Trinidad to 402 all out, pacer Sherman Lewis taking 5-64. Legspinner Imran Khan then snared 3-46 to dismiss the Windwards for a paltry 166 all out, Kavem Hodge topscoring with 46. Following on, the Windwards were three without loss at stumps.

Rain continued to wreak havoc on the second day running in Kingston, where Jamaica reached 111-2 against Barbados.

At Queen's Park Oval, Trinidad thrashed the Windwards by 10 wickets with a day to spare. Trailing by 236 on first innings, the Windwards were bowled out for 259 in their second by legspinner Imran Khan (4-67) and pacer Dennis St Clair (4-29), despite resistance from veteran Devon Smith, who carried his bat for 119, and a tail end knock of 52 from Shane Shillingford. The hosts easily knocked off the target of 24.

On the third day's play at the Viv Richards Stadium, Terrence Warde took 4-48 to dismiss defending champions Guyana for 206 all out, veteran Vishal Singh topscoring with 97 not out. Following on another 206 runs behind, Guyana were 53-2 going into the final day's play.

The nonsense of playing during the rainy season, and the farcical points system, produced a scenario where Jamaica declared on 1176-8 on the penultimate day's play in order to deny Barbados full bowling points. Opener John Campbell topscored with 44, while medium pacer Kevin Stoute took 5-58 and offspinner Ashley Nurse 3-52. Shane Moseley and Shamar Brooks hit 40s to take Barbados to 111-2 at the close of the third day's play.

mikesiva wrote:The nonsense of playing during the rainy season, and the farcical points system, produced a scenario where Jamaica declared on 1176-8 on the penultimate day's play in order to deny Barbados full bowling points.

Blasted laptop...the '1' is sticking.At North Sound, Guyana secured a draw against the Leewards when veteran Shiv Chanderpaul hit 109, and wicketkeeper Anthony Bramble 57 not out, to take the visitors to 305-7 when the match was called off. Terrence Warde and Nkrumah Bonner took two wickets each for the Leewards.

The day-night match at Sabina Park ended in a tame draw. Jonathan Carter hit 103, and opener Shane Moseley a round 50, as Barbados made 304-7 declared, while pacer Derval Green took two wickets. Trailing by 108 on first innings, Jamaica limped to 98-6 when the rain-ruined match came to an end. Paul Palmer topscored with 32 not out, while left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican took 3-22.